Amanda Bynes is an American actress, fashion designer and former TV show host, most famous for her roles in Nickelodeon productions. Born on April 3, 1986 in Thousand Oaks, California, she’s the daughter of a dentist who also practiced stand-up comedy and given a Jewish upbringing. Amanda Bynes was trained by veteran comedians Richard Pryor and Arsenio Hall at a comedy camp, and began acting professionally at the age of seven in TV commercials and onstage.
Professionally, Bynes started acting at age 7, appearing in national advertising campaigns for Buncha Crunch candies. Growing up, she also appeared on productions of Annie, The Secret Garde, The Music Man, and The Sound of Music. In 1996, she became a regular cast member of two Nickelodeon shows: Figure It Out and All That. When All That was canceled in 2000, Nickelodeon gave her her own show The Amanda Show. It featured comical skits and sketches, very much like All That but centering on Bynes, needless to say.
In 2002, Bynes made the leap to the big screen with the mildly successful Big Fat Liar, playing Frankie Muniz's friend. In 2003, she landed her first solo lead in What a Girl Wants opposite Oliver James. She also did voice acting for Charlotte's Web 2: Wilbur's Great Adventure in 2003 and the 2005 animated comedy Robots.
In 2003, Bynes was featured on the cover of Vanity Fair with the rest of the young Hollywood stars, namely Lindsay Lohan, The Olsen Twins, and Hillary Duff, among others. Despite such accolade, Bynes said that she was never "the hot girl at the high school party" and that she grew up insecure. In 2006, she landed another lead in the movie She's the Man, where she disguised herself as her brother. This was followed by another romantic comedy called Lovewrecked and the comedy Sydney White.
In 2002, Bynes starred in a WB sitcom called What I Like About You, where she played Holly Tyler, a spunky and spirited teenager, she moves in with her older sister Valerie, played by Jennie Garth, after their father moves to Japan for work.
In 2007, she was given the role of Penny Pingleton in the adaptation of the Broadway musical Hairspray. The ensemble comedy also stars John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer and Zac Efron. Bynes was also in that year’s Sydney White, which is based on the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.